There’re innumerable groups that sought to change whatever genre it was working in during the ‘60s. Most notably, in the States at least, were the changes in rock and jazz music. But just a major a spate of changes were about to befall the Americana set. Everything from folk to bluegrass and country were soon going to be augmented by a few trailblazers in each genre.

The New Grass Revival as well as the various northern acts re-working bluegrass wound up impacting the genre. But just as important – and maybe even more so because of the ensemble’s inclusion of Clarence White – was the Kentucky Colonels.

Being founded by White and his brother Jim during the early ‘60s, the boys began playing in California after a cross country move from the northeast took them to the coast. It was an auspicious move. And even while the Kentucky Colonels wouldn’t ever receive the same sort of deference as its peers, Clarence would eventually find himself in a latter day line up of the Byrds.

Being a part of one of the country’s most popular bands, though, came at a cost. Not only was White a member of one of the lesser groupings of players to perform under the Byrds banner – even as he remained a consummate guitarist – but it also meant the dissolution of the Kentucky Colonels. The break up of that group, though, was a long time coming.

After taking the American songbook, revving it up and including more lead guitar then the group’s antecedents, the Kentucky Colonels didn’t really make a name for themselves outside of the country market. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the group didn’t set down a few incredible recordings over its all too brief career.

A collection of singles and newly unearthed recordings comes packaged as The Kentucky Colonels (1965-1967). And while compilations aren’t generally the best way in which to understand a group, the strength of this disc is really the breadth of music that the group was able to incorporate.

Beginning with standards like “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” the group serves up as much folk music as anything else here. Granted the mandolin is omnipresent, but the tempo doesn’t really ever reach past the mid-range - there’s just as much of a big city group here as anything else. The word authentic is a despicable one, for the most part, but can and should be applied here despite the odd feel to this rendition of the song.

“Jimmy's Barnyard Shuffle,” another old tyme song, only clocks in at a minute and forty some odd seconds, but what it lacks in length, the track makes up for in inventiveness. The myriad disparate sections engorge the effort with something of a composerly feel – and that’s not really something that too many hillbilly groups from the period could boast.

The Kentucky Colonels weren’t rooted in jazz – or even necessarily fans of the genre. But the group’s approach to music was as wide and varied as its American cousin.